scree

[ skree ]

/ skri /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR scree ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a steep mass of detritus on the side of a mountain.

Nearby words

scream, the, screamer, screaming, screaming-meemies, screamo, scree, screech, screech owl, screeching, screechy, screed

Origin of scree

First recorded in 1775–85, scree is from the Old Norse word skritha landslide

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for scree

What followed in that hurly-burly—that mad scramble through brake and thicket, down crag and scree—is impossible to tell.
Wild Spain (Espaa agreste)|Abel Chapman
This, and any other bad bits, can generally be avoided by climbing down to the scree gully on our left.
Climbing in The British Isles, Vol. II|W. P. Haskett Smith
Still more to the east is a shorter gully, composed for the most part of scree, that can be taken in 20 minutes.
Climbing in The British Isles, Vol. II|W. P. Haskett Smith
They walked down slowly, him leaning on her arm like an old man, steps faltering in the scree on the slope.
Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town|Cory Doctorow

Scree: the dbris of decaying rocks, forming a talus on the lower parts of a mountain.
Climbing in The British Isles. Vol. 1 - England|W. P. Haskett Smith

British Dictionary definitions for scree

scree

/ (skriː) /

noun

an accumulation of weathered rock fragments at the foot of a cliff or hillside, often forming a sloping heapAlso called: talus

Word Origin for scree

Old English scrīthan to slip; related to Old Norse skrītha to slide, German schreiten to walk

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012